Former Vice President Al Gore had been scheduled to deliver a final pitch to the House Democratic Caucus for the global warming bill on Thursday alongside Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but Pelosi’s spokesman said Thursday morning that Gore will stay in Tennessee.

Drew Hammill said Gore’s presence is no longer needed.

“As the list of undecided Members narrowed, the Speaker thought it was unnecessary to impose on the vice president’s schedule to travel to Washington and instead to continue coordinating efforts from Tennessee,— Hammill said.

Democratic leaders have grown increasingly confident that they will have the support to pass the massive bill, scheduled for a vote as early as Friday.

Pelosi said at her news conference Thursday that Gore, who has made climate change his core issue since leaving office, would be better working the phones from his base in Tennessee.

“It’s a question of what was energy efficient for the vice president,— she said.

But Republican leadership sent out an e-mail suggesting that Gore was “Too Toxic for Dem Leaders Targeting Heartland Democrats.—